BIO: Town of Little Valley, Cattaraugus Co., NY
Submitted June 2000 by Cattaraugus County Bio Project.
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TOWN OF LITTLE VALLEY
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES FROM: "HISTORICAL GAZETTEER AND BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORIAL of
CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NY, ed by WILLIAM ADAMS, Published 1893
Page 770
Surnames: AYRES, PARKER, HOPKINS, SHEPARD, NEVINS, GOWING, PORTER, LAWRENCE
Alfred AYRES, born in Johnstown, N. Y., March 23, 1794, married Betsey P.
PARKER, at Bloomfield N. Y., who was born there March 1, 1805. Settling first
in Bloomfield they moved in 1826 to Little Valley, where he bought of Noel
HOPKINS a small piece of land on which the latter had cut the first trees and
built a log cabin. AYRES then gave HOPKINS employment. Mr. AYRES was
a peddler of tinware and yankee notions, which he followed till about 1837.
He bought furs of the Indians and also dealt in groceries several years.
Eventually he sold his grocery to C. S. SHEPARD, who conducted a larger
mercantile business. About 1837 he built the first saw-mill in the town north
of Little Valley Center and afterward gave his attention mainly to his farm of
250 acres. Mrs. AYRES died Jan. 25, 1851. In 1853 he married Elizabeth
NEVINS, of Litchfield, Ohio, and in 1858 or 1859 he sold his homestead and
removed to South Amherst, Ohio, where he resided nearly four years, when he
returned to Little Valley to live with his youngest daughter, Eliza Jane (Mrs.
Leonard GOWING), where he died of paralysis in Nov., 1884. His son, William
P. AYRES, was born on the homestead Aug. 14, 1827. In 1842 or 1843 he began
to carry the mail on his father's contract from Little Valley to Lodi (now
Gowanda), making the trip on horseback weekly for four years; the next two
years his route was semi-weekly by way of Lodi to Ellicottville. On one
occasion he was attacked by a huge panther, but his horse succeeded in
escaping the beast. The next day he joined some hunters and shot him.
Remaining with his father until they sold the homestead he soon afterward
married Julia PORTER, of Little Valley, and settled on the farm which he
recently sold. Mrs. AYRES died Dec. 23, 1882. July 25, 1884, he married
Elmina P. LAWRENCE. They have one son. He died Aug 7, 1893.
---------------
Page 770
Surnames: BRYANT, STAUNTON, CHASE, MANLEY, VAN ELTING, SMITH, COIT
Nathaniel BRYANT was born in Norwich, Mass.. Oct. 6, 1794, and had a good
common school education. In 1817 he and his brother, Freeman BRYANT,
emigrated to the Holland purchase with one horse, and in Ellicottville they
attempted to make a settlement about a mile south of the village, but were
informed that the place was not in market. They then went to Toledo, Ohio,
where fever and ague raged severely. Returning to Ellicottville Nathaniel was
employed by the Holland Land Company in 1818 at $1 per day, and cut the timber
from nearly the entire length of Washington street. The stumps were cut level
with the ground and the street was four rods wide. In the spring of 1819 the
brothers each located a farm on Bryant hill, which was named in their honor.
Freeman married Fannie STAUNTON, and two or three years later settled in Great
Valley, dying on a farm in Sugartown on June 1, 1826. Nathaniel married
Sally, daughter of David CHASE, Sr. He cut his hay and threshed his grain by
hand, and aided in supporting the Baptist church, of which he and his wife
were members. In 1841 he sold this farm and purchased the homestead of his
wife's deceased father, where both died - Mrs. BRYANT on April 10, 1875,
and he on May 12, 1883. Children: Edward S., Alvin C. (one of the first
conductors on the Lake Shore railroad, and who died Dec. 7, 1857), Lucy E.
(Mrs. William MANLEY), Marium (who married C. VAN ELTING and died in 1880,
leaving two sons), Stillman N. (married Wealthy CHASE and died May 14, 1888),
Harlow D., and Loverna W. (Mrs. James SMITH). Harlow D. BRYANT has been
commissioner of highways, and on June 18, 1884, married Emma, daughter of
Lewis COIT; children: a daughter and a son. (See also BRYANT sketch in
Ellicottville.)
---------------
Page 771
Surnames: BURRELL, CHAMPLIN
David BURRELL, son of Adonijah, was born in Otsego county in 1822 and came to
New Albion with his parents about 1828. Before he was twenty-one he commenced
dealing in live stock, which he shipped to Philadelphia and New York. About
1854 or 1855 he conducted the Howe House in Little Valley (the site of Rock
City Hotel). His wife's health failed and he returned to New Albion and
resumed his live stock business, which he continued till his death in March,
1876. He served his town several years as assessor. He married Mary Ann,
daughter of William M. CHAMPLIN, a pioneer of Napoli. She died soon after
they left the hotel, leaving two sons: William M. and another who died at the
age of twelve years. William M. was born on the homestead and alternately had
a home with his grandparents BURRELL and CHAMPLIN. He started in life a
farmer. In the spring of 1885 he purchased his present property, fitted it
for a hotel, and named it the BURRELL House.
---------------
Page 771
Surnames: CHAMPLIN, CHAMPLAIN
John B. F. CHAMPLIN was born at Napoli on July 17, 1841. His paternal
ancestors were of Huguenot French origin, came to America in 1695, and settled
in Lebanon, Conn, The original name was CHAMPLAIN, and Joseph CHAMPLAIN, who
in 1808 discovered the lake that bears his name, was a remote kinsman. His
father, John B. CHAMPLIN, married Hannah, daughter of Smith COTTRELL, of South
Kingston. John B. F. resided at the parental home until the death of his
mother, which occurred when he was fifteen years old. At the age of thirteen
he was a successful partner with his father and an older brother dealing in
cattle and sheep. At the age of sixteen he was the halfowner of a fishing
vessel and engaged in cod-fishing. At the end of the season he disposed of
his interest in this enterprise, returned to his native town, and resumed the
trade in live stock. He passed several winters in lumber camps driving oxen,
and after sixteen and a half years selling goods for one company as its
traveling salesman he embarked in the manufacture and sale of cutlery. He
organized the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company, of which he is president. He is
sagacious and enterprising in business, and has decided talents for mechanics
and civil engineering. In 1882 his son Tint became his partner in business.
In 1879 he began and in 1880 completed his elegant brick opera house. This he
reserved for the free use of all religious societies.
---------------
Page 771
Surnames: CHAPMAN, BLACKMAN, ALLISON
James CHAPMAN, born in Perth, Scotland, Nov. 16, 1829, was educated in the
English schools and learned the trade of blacksmith. In July, 1853, be came
to America in a sailing vessel and as a journeyman he spent a year at his
trade in Peekskill, N. Y. Thence he went to Walton, Delaware county, where he
was engaged until the ensuing spring, when he came to Little Valley, where he
arrived March 16, 1855. June 5th he bought out his employer, John BLACKMAN,
and conducted a blacksmithing business until 1877. In 1870 he purchased
thirty acres on Rock City street and in 1878 became a farmer. In 1887 he cut
his farm into village lots, which sold rapidly. He has been a member of the
Congregational church since the summer of 1856, and has been its deacon since
1869. April 2, 1856, he married Rachel ALLISON, who was born in Scotland,
Nov. 12, 1819, which country they visited in 1867.
---------------
Pages 771 & 772
Surnames: CHARLESWORTH, HIGBEE, BECKWITH
Joseph CHARLESWORTH, son of Nathan, was born near Manchester, England, Feb.
17, 1840. His father was a cotton spinner by trade, and was foreman in one of
the large cotton factories in that city. In 1841 he came to America with his
oldest two sons and about a year afterward sent for his wife and four
remaining children. He worked at his trade in Lodi (now Gowanda) and in
Buffalo three or four years, and settled in Otto. He purchased a farm on
which he died in 1854. Joseph in 1861 enlisted in Co. C, 64th N. Y. Vols, and
participated in all the battles in which his regiment engaged. At the battle
of Gettysburg he received a shell-wound on the right side of his head, which
fractured his skull, and was confined in the hospital at Philadelphia nearly
six months, where he was an officer of the guard. He was appointed sergeant
and was discharged with the rank of orderly-sergeant. He was early entrusted
with the carrying of dispatches and reconnoitering. He was discharged Jan. 9,
1864, from Convalescent Camp, Va., upon a surgeon's certificate of disability.
Mr. CHARLESWORTH has held several town offices. Jan. 20, 1864, he married
Roxanna HIGBEE, of New Albion; children: Fred, Jennie B. (Mrs. Homer
BECKWITH), John, and Willie M.
---------------
Page 772
Surnames: CHASE, GAY, BRYANT, FOSTER, STRATTON, FURMAN, PHILLIPS, WHEATON
KELSEY, CLARK, DAY, MARKHAM, DAVIS
David CHASE was born in Petersham, Mass., Oct. 25, 1769. Lucy GAY, his wife,
was born in Dedham, Mass., Sept. 14, 1771. They were married in
Massachusetts, where all their children were born. In 1819 or 1820 they came
to Little Valley Center with a heavy wagon covered with sole-leather and drawn
by two yoke of oxen; they also had one horse. They settled on 125 acres
of woodland - the farm on which his grandson, Harlow D. BRYANT, now resides.
He erected a log house and barn, cleared the farm, erected a second set of
farm buildings, and died on the place July 20, 1841. Mrs. CHASE died Oct. 241
1850. Mr. CHASE was highly esteemed and widely known. Children: Parney, who
married, first, Jonathan FOSTER, the father of her son Chester and daughter
Lucy (Mrs. Leander STRATTON), and, second, Asa FURMAN, the father of six
children, and died March 10 1854; Alvin, who married Polly PHILLIPS, settled
on a farm adjoining his father's a year or two before his father came, raised
nine children, and died July 27, 1873; Lefa, who married Gains WHEATON and
died Sept. 17, 1826; Sally, who married Nathaniel BRYANT and died April 10,
1875; Dr. Stillman, a practicing physician, settled first in Little Valley
Center, married Alzina KELSEY, owned a good farm, removed to Rochester, Minn.,
where he died Sept 5, 1860, and has two sons living, Kelsey and Albert; David,
Jr., who married Mary Ann CLARK, settled in Rochester, Minn., had four
children, was a dealer, built a large tenement block, and died Aug. 18, 1875 ;
and Cyrena, who married, first, Eli DAY, the father of her daughter Harriet
(Mrs. John MARKHAM), and, second, Hiram DAVIS, who has bought and sold several
farms, and whose son is a physician.
---------------
Pages 772 & 773
Surnames: CHASE, WHEELOCK, SMEAD, COX, BUCKLIN
Henry CHASE, son of Henry, a native of Massachusetts, was born about 1767 and
removed with his family to Townshend, Vt. Henry, Jr., married, in Townshend,
Irena WHEELOCK in 1788; children: Abner, Luther, Hiram, Melinda, Wheelock, and
Converse. Between I815 and 1820 Henry CHASE and his wife and their two sons,
Wheelock and Converse, removed to Little Valley. Their daughter Melinda, who
had married Simeon SMEAD in Vermont, settled in Little Valley at the same
time. Mr. SMEAD became prominent in the new town, was elected supervisor of
Little Valley in 1823, and was reelected from time to time in all nine terms.
Mr. CHASE was a close observer of all the weather signs, and always planted
his crops in what he thought the right phase of the moon. He was an original
member of the Freewill Baptist church. Their son, Abner CHASE, was born in
Townshend, Vt., in 1789, married Mary COX, of Pawlet, Vt., and settled in
Saratoga county, where he manufactured woolen cloth. In 1825 he settled in
Little Valley. Besides keeping his hotel he was a farmer, an extensive
lumberman, held several town offices, and was appointed by the State to
superintend the building of a highway through the Indian reservation along the
Allegheny river. He had served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and was a
major in the State militia. He was supervisor of Little Valley in 1837. In
1852 he sold the homestead and removed to Ohio. A few years later he returned
to Little Valley and had a home with his daughter, Mrs. Daniel BUCKLIN, until
his death in the fall of 1863. His wife died in 1863.
---------------
Page 773
Surnames: CHASE, LYON, BARTON, HOTCHKISS, BARR
Wheelock CHASE, fourth son of Henry, was born Aug. 2, 1800. He married Teresa
LYON in March, 1824, who was born in Wilbraham, Mass., June 10, 1800. In the
spring of 1825 they settled in the woods on Bucktooth.run, where alone he
built the first house. Mrs. CHASE sewed for lumbermen to buy the few pounds
of nails and panes of glass used in its construction. They sold their
improvements a year or two later and removed to their old neighborhood. In
1831 they made a permanent settlement half a mile south of the homestead,
where he died in 1845. Prior to 1831 he cleared a field near the creek and his
wife assisted in carrying 100 bushels of ashes from the burnt timber to the
bank of the stream to be made into black-salts. A sudden heavy rain caused
the creek to overflow during the night and in the morning they found their
ashes swept away by the flood. Children: Malenda, Irene, Randilla, Harriet,
Abner W., and Estelle. Malenda married J. L. BARTON, of Mansfield, at the age
of thirty-two and died childless four years later. She had taught thirty-two
terms of school. Harriet married George W. HOTCHKISS, of South Valley, in
1868, and died in 1875, leaving two sons. Abner W. enlisted in the Rebellion
in 1861 and died in Alexandria, April 21, 1862. Estelle, married N. L. BARR,
of Brocton, in Nov., 1865, and died in Kansas, Oct. 10, 1879, leaving one
child. Mrs. CHASE (the mother) died May 26, 1880, in Little Valley village,
where she had lived several years, and where her daughters, Irene and
Randilla, the only survivors of the family, reside.
---------------
Page 773
Surnames: CHASE, WHEELER, HALL, NASH, ROWLETT, BRYANT, WILLSIS, EVANS
Converse H., CHASE, youngest child of the pioneer Henry, was born in
Townshend, Vt., Feb. 17, 1811. He came to Little Valley Center with his
parents and married Nancy WHEELER, Dec. 21, 1837, who was a native of
Massachusetts and a daughter of John WHEELER, who settled on the farm now
owned by Mrs. Sarah M. HALL. They sold their farm and lived with their
daughter, Mrs. Converse H. CHASE. Mr. CHASE died on Nov. 9, 1851. He served
as town clerk and assessor. Children: Byron D., born Nov. 5, 1838, who with
his brother Albert B. owns the homestead of 120 acres and the Clement farm of
sixty acres, and who married Mrs. Mary A. (NASH) ROWLETT, March 15, 1885;
Wealthy A., born May 7, 1848, who married Stillman BRYANT, Jan. 8, 1861, a
farmer, and died June 15, 1879; Hiram H., born Nov. 27, 1841, enlisted in Co.
B, 9th N. Y. Cav., in 1861, and died at Clupper Court House, Va., Aug. 8,
1862; Albert B., born Nov. 27, 1844, married Mary E. WILLSIS; and Mortimer D.,
born May 30, 1846, married Mary E. EVANS.
---------------
Page 773
Surnames: CHASE, WHEELOCK, SMEAD
Enoch CHASE came to Little Valley from Vermont about the time that his,
cousins David and Henry settled here. He died as early or before 1825. He
married, his cousin, Abigail (CHASE) WHEELOCK, a sister of Henry CHASE. In
1837, with four of her sons and their families, she removed to Burlington,
Iowa. Simeon SMEAD, whose wife, Melinda CHASE, had recently died, and
his brother Daniel, all Vermonters, went with them. Johnson CHASE, the son
who remained, died a few years ago.
---------------
Pages 773 & 774
Surnames: CROSBY, HOLMES, PUDDY, WHEATON, CHASE
Stephen CROSBY was born in 1788 in Dutchess county, N. Y. At Cazenovia, in
1810, he married Hannah HOLMES, who was born in 1790 at Keene, N. H.
Children: Columbus, born July 10, 1814, at Cazenovia, enlisted in the Union
army at Petersburg, Ill., and died in the service at Mobile, Ala.; Orril, born
at Little Valley in 1817, the first white child born in the town, married
Michael PUDDY, and died in Michigan; Zillah, born at little Valley, 1819, and
now resides at Garnavillo, Iowa; and Ada, born at Little Valley in 1821, died
in Michigan. Stephen CROSBY moved to Little Valley in 1815 and cut his road
through the woods from Franklinville. As justice of the peace he officiated at
the marriage of Gaius WHEATON and Lefa CHASE, which was Little Valley's first
wedding. He was a devoted Christian pioneer, and for many years officiated as
the only doctor, preacher, and lawyer in the settlement. When Cattaraugus
county first became entitled to a representative in the Assembly in 1823 he
was elected to that office and was re-elected in 1830.
---------------
Page 774
Surname: CULLEN
Joseph CULLEN, son of John, was born in Upton, Nottinghamshire, England, May
16, 1838. His father was a farmer and came to America in 1851, and first
settled in Monroe county. In 1856 he removed to Little Valley and located on
the farm where his son Joseph now resides, and where he died Jan. 17, 1876.
He was a member of the Methodist Protestant church and was many years its
class-leader. Joseph CULLEN, his oldest son, remained at home until 1862,
when, on Sept. 3d, he enlisted in Co. B, 154th N. Y. Vols., and was discharged
June 24, 1865. He participated in the battle of Chancellorsville and in
several skirmishes, marched with Sherman to the sea, and had a long illness in
the hospital at Patterson Park, Baltimore. He was also a prisoner six weeks.
He succeeded his father on the homestead.
---------------
Page 774
Surnames: DARROW, KING
Adelbert E. DARROW, born in Pembroke, Genesee county, Sept. 13, 1842, was
educated in the common schools with a few terms in the academies, and in June,
1862, he enlisted in Co. G, 129th N. Y. Inf., was transferred to the 8th N. Y.
H. A., and was discharged June 2, 1865, with the rank of orderly- sergeant.
His regiment was in General Hancock's corps. After the war he traveled in
several western States and in the spring of 1867 he located in Salamanca where
he engaged in manufacturing lumber. While there he held several town offices,
and as highway commissioner he erected the iron bridge across the Allegheny
river. Mr. DARROW is a Republican. In the winter of 1884 and again he was
postmaster of the Senate of the State Legislature, and had previously held the
office of deputy sheriff and under sheriff of Cattaraugus county each three
years. In the fall of 1885 he received the nomination of his party for
sheriff and was elected. At the close of this term he became a member of the
Cattaraugus Cutlery Company and one of its directors; he has served as its
secretary and is now its superintendent of construction. He also served as
chairman of the Republican County Committee in 1889 and 1890. Nov. 25, 1869,
he married Mary N. KING, of Salamanca, who was born in Pembroke, N. Y. They
have one daughter, Trudia B.
---------------
Page 774
Surnames: DAY, LEE, WING, HEATH, CHAMPLIN
Elias DAY, son of Erastus and Marian (LEE) DAY, was born in Orleans county in
July, 1827. When a child his parents settled in New Albion. Jan. 1, 1850 he
married Harriet WING who was born in New Lisbon, Otsego county, March 18,
1834. They settled in New Albion, where he died April.5, 1880. Mr. DAY was
never robust in health, but was an enterprising farmer. He was a member of
the M. E. church thirty-two years and led the choir about as long. He was a
Republican and was tax collector three terms. Children: Albert, who married
Hannah HEATH and has two children, and Emma (Mrs. Theodore CHAMPLIN), who has
four children.
---------------
Pages 774 & 775
Surnames: DENSMORE, VAN HOUSEN
Capt. Samuel B. DENSMORE was born in Barre, N. Y., Dec. 29, 1833. At the age
of fifteen he entered a general store as clerk, where he remained until he
attained his majority. A year later he engaged in the business on his own
account in Yates, Orleans county, where he was until 1862, when he enlisted on
June 14th in Co. A, 129th N. Y. Inf. Aug. 25th he went to the front and
participated in all the battles of General Grant's army until the close of the
war. He was promoted from private to captain, and received a gun-shot wound in
his left shoulder in front of Petersburg, June 22, 1864. He was captured at
Reams's Station, Aug. 25, 1864, and confined in Libby, Dansville, and
Salisbury prisons six months. In 1863 his regiment became the 8th N. Y. H.
A., which was reduced by deaths, etc., from 900 to 120 men. He returned to
mercantile pursuits in Little Valley in April, 1868, and is now engaged in the
railway mail service. In 1868 he married Helen M. VAN HOUSEN, of Cortland
county; they have two sons and a daughter.
---------------
Page 775
Surnames: DREW, HOUGH
John DREW, Sr., son of Elijah DREW, was born in Vermont and married Nancy
HOUGH, of Geneseo, N. Y., about 1822. He then settled in New Albion on Drew
hill, where he resided five or six years, when he sold out to his brother,
Noah DREW, and commenced again on Drew flats, where he erected another log
cabin. Here he raised his children and here Mrs. DREW died Jan. 1, 1871.
He planted a good orchard, and built a good house in 1850. He was
commissioner of highways a number of years, and died April 15, 1880.
Children: John, born April 14, 1824, died Jan. 3, 1830; Isaac, born Dec. 13,
1825, died Feb. 13, 1837; Abram, born Aug. 17, 1827, died Dec. 3, 1830; John,
Jr., born Nov. 23, 1830; Julia Ann, born Sept. 19, 1832, died July 19, 1852;
lra, born Feb. 23, 1835, residing with his only son, George E. DREW,
proprietor of the Exchange Hotel in Little Valley; Henry, born July 17 1837,
died Jan. 15, 1883; Silas Wilber, born Aug. 10, 1840; Oscar F., born Nov. 13,
1843; Clark, born Jan. 27, 1846; Francis Marion, born Dec. 31, 1847, a farmer
in Salamanca and a soldier in the war for the Union ; Isaac Eugene, born
Jan. 15, 1849, died Sept. 9, 1871; Angenette, born March 28, 1852.
---------------
Page 775
Surnames: FANCHER, MILLS, SHANNON
Albert T. FANCHER, son of Capt. William (see page 754) and Lydia (MILLS)
FANCHER, was born in Leon, Jan. 18, 1859. He was educated in the common
schools and in Chamberlain Institute, and at the age of eighteen formed a
partnership with Edgar SHANNON, of Leon, under the firm name of Edgar SHANNON
& Co., which continued in trade with two branch stores in the oil regions of
Pennsylvania the ensuing seven years. A Republican in politics he represented
his town on the Board of Supervisors three terms and in 1885 was the nominee
of his party for and was elected clerk of Cattaraugus county. He resides in
Little Valley, owns a farm in Leon, and deals, in real estate.
---------------
Pages 775 & 776
Surnames: FISHER, PENNEY, HALL
Judson H. FISHER was born in Napoli, March 5, 1838, and descends from sturdy
New England stock. His father, William FISHER, was born in Massachusetts and
came with his parents to Genesee county in his boyhood. About 1830 he came
with an ox-team to Napoli and settled on a tract of too acres. He died Oct.
10, 1889. In religion he was a Baptist and an ordained clergyman. He
preached regularly at a school house in "Pigeon Valley "; he officiated at
numerous weddings and funerals, and was beloved and respected. He was twice
married and the father of six children, all of whom reside in the Vicinity.
Judson H. FISHER, his oldest son, received a common school education and
remained on the homestead until August, 1862, when he enlisted in Co. H, 154th
N. Y. Vols., and participated in the battle of Chancellorsville, where he
fought hard and gallantly and fell pierced with a minie-ball, which broke his
kneepan in three pieces. He lay in this condition fourteen days, suffering
terribly from pain, hunger, thirst, heat, exposure, and the mingled insults
and kindnesses of the enemy, when he was discovered by Union soldiers and sent
to the hospital, where the surgeons deemed amputation of the shattered leg
necessary. This he positively refused to allow, and alone, with his
indomitable strength and perseverance, he set the mangled member, which
ultimately healed, but never united. He is now a market gardener in Little
Valley. Jan. 17, 1866, be married Sarah PENNEY, of Mt. Hope, N.
Y.; children: Anna (Mrs. William F. HALL), Charles H., and Florence J.
---------------
Page 776
Surnames: FULLER, HOPKINS, BRISTOL, McKAY, HUNTLEY, GODDING, SPRAGUE, WHEATON
Cyrus W. FULLER was born in Pawlet, Vt., in March, 1800. When he was twelve
years old his parents removed to Elba, Genesee county, where he resided until
Feb., 1831. His father, John FULLER, served seven years in the Revolution and
was many years a pensioner. Cyrus W. came to Little Valley with his wife and
two children – Tryphena and Cyrus A. – in Feb., 1831, and settled on 100 acres
with but three and a half acres cleared, which he purchased of Noel H. HOPKINS
and the Holland Land Company. He soon afterward built a larger log house and
a little later a framed addition in which he conducted the first grocery store
in the village of Little Valley. Mr. FULLER often spoke in public meetings
and as commissioner laid out most of the highways in town. He married Lucia
BRISTOL, of Bethany, Genesee county, daughter of Elijah BRISTOL. Five of
their seven children attained maturity: Tryphena (deceased), who married H.
V. R. McKAY; Carrie (deceased), who married H. S. HUNTLEY; Alison L., of
Humphrey; Lura (deceased); and Cyrus A., who was born Sept. 11, 1827. The
latter succeeded his father on the homestead, to which he has added until he
now has a farm of 450 acres. In the Rebellion he placed a substitute in the
field who did service three years. Mr. FULLER married Lydia A., daughter of
Levi GODDING, an early pioneer who resided in Little Valley until his death,
aged seventy-two years. Children: Laura A. (Mrs. B. L. SPRAGUE), George W.,
and Nellie C. (Mrs. S. N. WHEATON).
---------------
Pages 776 & 777
Surnames: FULLER, VAN AERNAM, FAY, MANLEY, TWOMLEY
Brevet-Col. Henry Van Aernam FULLER,* oldest son of Benjamin and Ann (VAN
AERNAM) FULLER, was born in the village of Little Valley, Feb. 16, 1841. He
had two brothers and a sister. Benjamin C. was a soldier in the 37th N. Y.
Vols. and a clerk in the Interior Department; Nathan A. was paying teller in
the United States House of Representatives during the Forty-second,
Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and Forty- fifth Congresses. His grandfather,
Edmund FULLER, was the first settler in Randolph; his father was among the
earliest in Little Valley. His mother, a lady of great intellectual strength,
is the sister of Hon. Henry VAN AERNAM, M. D. (see page 131). Henry V. FULLER
obtained his education in the common schools and at Fredonia and Randolph
Academies. Had he survived the war it was his intention to have devoted
himself to the legal profession. At the age of seventeen he was employed by
Messrs. BRADLEY FAY & Co., lumber manufacturers, to run rafts down the
Allegheny and Ohio rivers to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and Louisville. He
remained their confidential agent until the beginning of the war, when, on
Aug. 7, 1861, in a letter to his friend, Hon. John MANLEY, he said: "Deeming
it to be the duty of every young man in these days of his country's peril to
render her every help in his power, and that the most effectual service which
can be given is to volunteer to fight her battles, I am resolved to join those
already in the field and stand by them in this struggle for the constitution
and laws."
Young FULLER entered the army a private in Co. F, 64th N. Y. Vols., on Sept.
10, 1861, and at Elmira he was promoted orderly-sergeant. At the election of
line officers he was chosen second lieutenant and commissioned Dec. 10th.
After the battle of Fair Oaks he was promoted first lieutenant July 23, 1862.
He passed through the Seven Days of the Peninsula, the Pope campaign,
Antietam, and Fredericksburg, and for meritorious service was promoted captain
Dec. 30, 1862. Chancellorsville was fought May 1st, 2d, and 3d; this was
followed, on the 1st 2d, and 3d of July, 1863, by the bloody battle of
Gettysburg, where, on the second day, Captain FULLER fell. His body was
recovered on the morning of July 4th, was conveyed to his home, and was buried
with military honors. Under the authority of the laws of New York, 1865, the
first brevet honor was bestowed by Gov. FENTON, that of brevet-colonel, in
memoriam, for Capt. Henry V. FULLER. Colonel FULLER was endowed with superior
mental powers. He possessed a manly physique, stood six feet high, and had a
handsome face, clear gray eyes, and brown hair.
" Duice et deQorum est pro patria mori."
Dec. 24, 1860, he married Adelaide C., daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Lyman TWOMLEY,
of Little Valley, a lady of culture and energy who has held the position of
postmistress several years. Their son, Henry Twomley FULLER, of striking
resemblance to his father, was born May 19, 1862. He is a druggist.
* This sketch of-the brave and gallant Colonel FULLER is condensed from a
biography written by his friend, Hon. John MANLEY.
---------------
Page 777
Surnames: GREEN, THOMPSON, COURTNEY, WEBER, FERRIN
Hon. Stephen C. GREEN was born in Tompkins county Jan. 1, 1828. In 1833 his
father removed his family to Jamestown, where, at the age of sixteen, Stephen
was apprenticed to the printing business, which he pursued five years. In
1849 he began his mercantile career, the scene of his operations being mainly
in Little Valley. Sept. 5, 1848, he married Laura Ann THOMPSON, who died June
8, 1867, and Dec. 15, 1868, he married, second, Minnie COURTNEY. Mr. GREEN
has held most of the minor town offices and was supervisor of Little Valley in
1863 and 1865. In 1865 he was elected superintendent of the poor of
Cattaraugus county and in 1868 was re-elected. In 1869 and again in 1870 he
was elected to the State Legislature. He was the first president of the
village of Little Valley. In Dec., 1887, with B. B. WEBER and A. W. FERRIN,
he bought the Olean Times and continued its publication under the name of S.
C. GREEN & Co. until Feb., 1891, when he retired and the firm became FERRIN &
WEBER.
---------------
Page 777
Surnames: HALL, EDDY, SPRAGUE, BEDIENT, FULLER
Marcus HALL, son of Horace, one of the four brothers who were among the first
settlers in the, corners of Napoli, Randolph, Conewango, and Cold Spring, now
the village of East Randolph, was born in Napoli in 1831. He moved with his
parents to the village of East Randolph when about twelve years of age, where
he supplemented his common school education by several terms at East Randolph
Seminary. Sept. 7, 1854, he married Almira M., daughter of Enos and Miranda
EDDY, pioneers of Mansfield. Mr. HALL springs from a line of noted mechanics
and has carried on farming, wagon making, and carpentering. Aug. 26, 1862, he
enlisted in Co. E, 9th N. Y. Cav., and served nearly two years, participating
in the battles of Gettysburg, Boonesborough, and others. His health failed in
July, 1863, and he was sent to the hospital in September, came home on
sick-leave for ninety days, and returned to his regiment at Christmas; he took
a severe cold, was again confined in the hospital, and was discharged as
permanently disabled June 11, 1864. He and Mrs. HALL have lived in the
village of Little Valley the past eight years. They own a farm in Mansfield,
which is the home of their daughter, Lydia M. (Mrs. John SPRAGUE). Their
daughter Ida May (Mrs. Serentus W. BEDIENT) resides in the village of Little
Valley. Mr. BEDIENT is a farmer and of the firm of FULLER & BEDIENT,
proprietors of a meat market.
---------------
Pages 777 & 778
Surnames: HALL, MOSHER, JUDD, BRIGGS, WATKINS, GALLAGHER, SHAFER, BOUTELL,
SMITH
Calvin HALL, born in Vermont in 1800 married Sarah MOSHER, who was born in
Hoosick, N. Y., in 1801. They settled in Middlebury, N. Y., where their oldest
two children were born. In the spring of 1832 they settled in New Albion,
where he served as justice of the peace twelve years, presiding during that
period at numerous law suits. He was a farmer and a mason, and died at the
age of forty-four years. His wife died in 1851. Children: Phebe (Mrs.
Harrison JUDD), of New Albion, who died Sept. 27, 1889; Calvin E., born Jan.
22, 1826; and Lydia, born in New Albion, married A. BRIGGS, and died in
Dayton. Calvin E. HALL bought the homestead in New Albion and married, Aug.
14, 1849, Sarah M. WATKINS. They removed to Dayton, and about three years
later purchased another farm in New Albion and conducted both. In 1868 they
removed to a farm of 250 acres near Little Valley Center. He sold his real
estate to a son and daughter, and died Dec. 24, 1890. Six children, five of
whom grew to maturity: Mary (Mrs. Henry GALLAGHER) died Sept. 10, 1889;
Robert D., born in 1852, married Nettie SHAFER, of Salamanca, and resides in
Dayton; Adah E., born in 1856, married C. O. BOUTELL, of Salamanca; Edmund C.,
born in 1860, was a teacher, was principal of the Union Free School in
Allegany, was a law student at the time be was taken ill, and died Sept. 10,
1867; and Drusa E., born in 1868, married Fred D. SMITH.
---------------
Page 778
Surnames: HEATH, HYDE, CHICHESTER, JOHNSON, ANTISDALE, DAY, WING, TOMES
Samuel C. HEATH, born in Bowe, N. H., in Feb., 1803, married Lois HYDE, a
native of Vermont, and settled in Mansfield about 1828 in a log cabin roofed
with elm-bark, in which town they lived about thirty years. Mr. HEATH died in
Machias in 1881; Mrs. HEATH died Jan. 17, 1885. He was a shoemaker, but later
in life gave his attention to his farm. Children: Calista, born May 22,
1828, widow of William CHICHESTER; John, born July 13, 1830, married Phebe
JOHNSON, and is a farmer living in the village of Little Valley; and Bart,
born May 31, 1832, Married Lydia L. ANTISDALE. Bart HEATH enlisted Sept. 24,
1861, in Co. F, 64th N. Y. Vols., and was discharged April 3, 1863, in
consequence of a shell-wound received at the battle of Antietam on Sept. 17,
1862. His eldest daughter married Albert DAY, of Little Valley. Mary married
Lyman WING, of Little Valley, and Lois married Robert TOMES, of Great Valley.
---------------
Page 778
Surnames: HENRY, STEBBINS, BROWN, PERSONS
William W. HENRY, son of Sylvester, was born in Collins, Erie county, April
18, 1837. At about the age of sixteen he began an apprenticeship at the
printer's trade with his brother, James T. HENRY, then the editor of the
Ellicottville Union. Completing his trade he was a journeyman until 1858,
when he established the Gowanda Reporter, a Democratic weekly on which he and
his partner, F. G. STEBBINS, did all the work. He continued this until the
beginning of the Rebellion, when, in Oct., 1861, he enlisted in Co. A, 64th N.
Y. Vols. He was promoted corporal and quartermaster-sergeant; in Oct., 1862,
was commissioned lieutenant; and immediately after the battle of
Fredericksburg was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. He was finally
compelled to resign on account of ill health and return to Gowanda, where he
resided until 1871 and represented his town on the Board of Supervisors two
years. He also served as town clerk, Justice of the peace, and president of
the village. In Jan., 1871, he became under sheriff of Cattaraugus county,
sheriff, William M. BROWN, and removed to Little Valley, where he has since
resided. He was the nominee of the Democratic party for the office of sheriff
in 1873 and was elected. In 1879, with C. F. PERSONS, he purchased the Olean
Record, a Greenback paper, and converted it into a Democratic organ with the
title of the Olean Democrat. In 1883 Mr. HENRY was appointed inspector of
canals. In July, 1893, he was appointed postmaster at Little Valley.
---------------
Pages 778 & 779
Surnames: HICKEY, HOWE
John HICKEY was born in Canajoharie, N. Y., in 1794. He married Martha,
daughter of Nathan HOWE, a pioneer of Great Valley, and settled first in
Phelps, N. Y., where ail his children were born. In 1843 he came with his
family to Little Valley, where he conducted a tavern on the site of the Rock
City Hotel. He was a hotel keeper most of the time through his business
life, and died at the home of his daughter in 1887. He was married three
times. His first wife, the mother of all his children, died in March, 1852.
---------------
Page 779
Surnames: HIGBEE, MARSH, TUTTLE
Marion F. HIGBEE was born in New Albion, Feb. 18, 1850. In 1867 he commenced
to learn the tinner's trade of Sidney MARSH in Little Valley and in 1871 he
opened a store in the village. In 1876 he sold his business and went to
Wyoming county, where he was in trade nine years. Eventually returning to
Little Valley in July, 1890, he bought the store and stock of hardware and
groceries of S. A. TUTTLE, and has since conducted the business.
---------------
Page 779
Surnames: HILSLE, GIBSON
George HILSLE, born in Alsace, France, in 1829, is descended from French
ancestors, but was educated in the German schools and in German language,
supplemented by two years in French. He learned the tailor's trade and at the
age of seventeen came to America. In Canada and in Buffalo and in other
places he followed his trade as a journeyman, and in 1853 he located
permanently in Little Valley. He opened a store as a merchant tailor and a few
years later added ready-made clothing. During the last year or two of the war
he suspended business and bought a farm. In 1866 he again fitted up his
store. In 1868 he married Adelia GIBSON, of Addison, N. Y.; they have two
daughters and a son.
---------------
Page 779
Surname: HOLCOMB
Oliver L. HOLCOMB was born in Oneida county April 1, 1829. His father settled
in Madison county, where he received a common school education. In 1847 he
commenced an apprenticeship in the jeweler's trade at Utica, and in 1861 he
settled permanently in Little Valley, where he opened a jewelry store, which
he has since continued. He cast his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856 at
the organization of the Republican party and has voted for each of the
Republican presidential candidates since. He has been deputy sheriff nine
years and is now serving his third term as justice of the peace. He has been
crier of the courts several years and still holds that position.
---------------
Page 779
Surnames: HOWE, SOUTHWICK, SPRINGER, BROOKS, ADAMS, NASH, FOX
Arthur H. HOWE was born in Gowanda, Erie county, Oct. 7, 1843. His
grandfather, Jaazaniah HOWE, a native of Goshen, Mass., was a soldier in the
Revolution. His father, Zimri the son of Jaazaniah. came to Lodi (now
Gowanda) in 1825, and removed in 1858 to Cattaraugus in New Albion. He died
March 11, 1867, and his wife, Esther, March 13, 1878. In 1859 Arthur H. HOWE
began his career in the county clerk's office under E. H. SOUTHWICK, serving
until 1864, when he enlisted in the 98th N. Y. S. N. G., which was stationed
at Elmira guarding prisoners. He was made deputy county clerk in Jan., 1865,
by S. C. SPRINGER and Jan. 1, 1868, by Enos C. BROOKS. At the expiration of
this term be moved to Ellicottville and formed a mercantile partnership with
A. J. ADAMS, and Jan. 1, 1874, returned to the county Clerk's office, being
again made deputy by Col. E. A. NASH in July, 1875. That same year he was
nominated and elected clerk of the county on the Republican ticket. Dec. 31,
1879, he married Harriet, daughter of C. J. FOX.
---------------
Page 779
Surnames: HOWE, HULETT, MANLEY, FOSTER, CHASE
Samuel HOWE, a native of Massachusetts and a son of Parley and Deborah
(HULETT) HOWE, came with his father to Mansfield about 1830. Both were
farmers. Parley HOWE died at the home of his son Samuel in Mansfield aged
seventy-six years. Children: Joseph, Samuel, Lemuel, Lura, Roby, and Sybil
(the only one now living). Samuel married Jane MANLEY, of Otto; children:
Sybil, Aurelius, Leonard, John, Nelson, Augustus, Martin, Franklin, Levi,
Alice. Franklin married Bertha FOSTER, great- granddaughter of David CHASE.
---------------
Page 780
Surnames: JOHNSON, WRIGHT
David JOHNSON, born in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, in 1839, received a common
school education, learned the trade of harness making, and at the age of
nineteen came to East Randolph, where he purchased a harness shop and
prosecuted the business about ten years. In 1868 he sold out and established
himself in Little Valley. He has also dealt extensively in hides, his
purchases sometimes amounting to $1,000 a week. Latterly he has occasionally
contributed to the press on political and other subjects. He has served two
terms as trustee of the village. In Sept., 1858, a few months after he
settled in East Randolph, he returned to his native county and married Sarah
C. WRIGHT, of Norfolk, N. Y.; they have one surviving son, Charles E.
---------------
Page 780
Surnames: LEE, RATHBUN, CROSBY, TREVITT, MARSH
Lyman LEE was born in Guilford, Conn., in 1799. When seventeen or eighteen
years of age he came to Rochester, and Dec. 23, 1819, married Harriet RATHBUN,
who was born in Tioga county, Pa., in 1800. In March, 1821, he settled in
Little Valley on a lot of 100 acres where the cheese factory now stands. He
cleared a small plat, sowed and planted, and set out a nursery of apple and
pear trees. In the fall of 1823 he exchanged farms with Stephen CROSBY and
became the owner of 100 acres of land and the first frame building in the
town, where he died in 1851. Mrs. LEE survived until July 29, 1879. Like
other early settlers they experienced the hardships incident to pioneer life.
The nearest mill was at Cadizville, about twenty-five miles away. Soon after
he settled in Little Valley Mr. LEE broke his last axe, and to get it repaired
he went on foot sixteen miles through the woods, which abounded with wolves.
Mr. LEE was overseer of the poor for thirty years and superintendent of the
Free Baptist Sunday school about as long. Children: a daughter who died in
infancy and another at the age of thirty-eight; Susan A. (Mrs. C. S. TREVITT),
of Washington, D. C.; Emma, widow of O. E. MARSH; William
H., a carpenter in Corry, Pa.; Erastus N.; and Maurice L., of Olean.
---------------
Page 780
Surname: LEE
Erastus N. LEE, born on the homestead Dec. 2, 1834, succeeded his father on
the farm, spent several seasons as a clerk in country stores, and has
conducted the double occupation of farmer and merchant. He has been a staunch
Republican since the organization of the party and was elected to the Board of
Supervisors in 1866. He is a decided temperance man and quite an antiquarian,
and his collection of Indian relics, procured in his own vicinity, number
several hundred specimens.
---------------
Page 780
Surnames: LOCKE, FISH, GALLOWAY, FOOTE
Charles G. LOCKE was born in Little Valley in 1850. His parents were Edwin O.
LOCKE and Mary M. FISH, daughter of the pioneer, Nathaniel FISH, and the first
white child born in Mansfield. Edwin O. died when Charles was three years old
and he was adopted by Augustus GALLOWAY, who married his aunt, Nancy FISH.
Young LOCKE attended the common schools, the Ellicottville Union Free School,
and received valuable instruction in mathematics from Mr. GALLOWAY. He
mastered civil engineering and surveying, and has followed it as a profession.
Mr. LOCKE is a vivid descriptionist and a writer of no mean ability. He also
has a farm of 150 acres in Little
Valley Center. He married Ella FOOTE. His only brother, Edwin A. LOCKE, is
the author of
several celebrated dramas and comedies.
---------------
Page 780
Surname: MACK
John F. MACK was born of German parents in East Otto in 1854. He commenced
his business life as a cooper, and in the fall of 1879 bought a farm of 133
acres in Little Valley. He is an excellent farmer and a careful manager, and
a man highly respected in the community.
---------------
Pages 780 & 781
Surnames: MANLEY, BITTUES, FENTON, SHANKLAND
Hon. John MANLEY, son of Amasa, was born in Norridgewock, Me., May 26, 1824.
Like other farmer boys he spent his youth at the common schools, where he
obtained a good English education, and at labor on his father's farm. In 1847
he married Elizabeth BITTUES at Augusta, Me., and in 1851 removed to Little
Valley, where he engaged in farming, which avocation he continued for a number
of years, and gradually became an extensive landowner. He was early and
prominently identified in politics, and first cast his lot with the Whig
party. At the organization of the Republican party be became one of its
staunch supporters and took a leading part in its councils. He first entered
public life in 1860 as the representative of Little Valley on the Board of
Supervisors and was re-elected almost unanimously for six more terms. In 1861
he was appointed clerk in the Department of the Interior under Secretary Smith
and served four years. In 1864 he was detailed as a special Indian agent
within the State of New York. In March, 1865, he was appointed military
secretary on the staff of Governor FENTON and held the position until May,
1866. In the fall of 1872 he was elected to the Assembly from the Second
District of Cattaraugus county and was re-elected the ensuing fall. Mr.
MANLEY gained considerable eminence as an agriculturist, and was the efficient
president of the Cattaraugus County Agricultural Society seven years, being
also a member of the Executive Committee of the Agricultural Society of the
State of New York. He was a man of few professions. His religion as he
expressed it consisted in faith in the Supreme Being and an endeavor to do
right in all things. He was successful in winning the esteem of his
fellowmen. During the war he was especially active in the amelioration of the
condition of the soldiers in the field and in prison, visiting personally the
camps and outposts; and at home he assisted materially in recruiting
organizations for the front. He was pre-eminently the soldier's friend. As a
speaker and writer he was fluent and comprehensive. His biographies of many
of the local pioneers and eminent citizens are preserved as monuments in the
history of western New York. For many years he was secretary of the County
Agricultural Society and his records of the proceedings of that body are
exquisite models of neatness and thoroughness. In the removal of the county
seat to Little Valley he was especially active; according to the late Robert
H. SHANKLAND he "stole it and tugged it over Fish hill in his carpet-bag." He
was not without his faults, but his name will live in history as representing
one whose good deeds were many and whose acts were acts of kindness. His
widow, two daughters, and a son survive him.
---------------
Pages 781 & 782
Surnames: MARKHAM, PHILLIPS, FIELD, CROSS
Lieut. William J. MARKHAM was born in Great Valley, March 25, 1826. His
father, William MARKHAM, was born in Manlius, Onondaga county. He came to
Cattaraugus county when twenty-two years old and married Rachel PHILLIPS, of
Lyndon, theirs being the first marriage solemnized in that town. He spent a,
year in Olean and then settled on a new farm in Great Valley. In 1841
he came to Little Valley, remained six or seven years on a farm, sold it, and
returned to Great Valley, where he died in 1849. His son married Sophronia
FIELD in Nov., 1847, and settled on the farm where he now resides. Sept. 23,
1861, he enlisted in Co. B, 9th N. Y. Cav., and Jan. 1, 1864, re-enlisted in
Co. D of the same regiment, being commissioned second lieutenant and
discharged July 17, 1865. He was shot through the thigh at Brandy Station,
Va.; at Berryville, Va., the bones above his ankle were broken by a shell; at
Port Republic he received a stunning blow from a pistol on his head which
fractured his skull; and by the bursting of a shell he was made permanently
deaf. He is a farmer and an ordained clergyman in the Church of the United
Brethren. He is a Republican and has served as overseer of the poor eighteen
years. Children: Ambrose W., of Franklinville; Charles E.; Fanny (Mrs. Frank
CROSS), of Allegany; Frank M.; Edgar C.; Clark F.; and Willard J.
---------------
Page 782
Surname: MEROW
John H. MEROW, born in Germany in 1823, came to America in 1858, and settled
on a farm in the west part of this town, which he owned at the time of his
death, which occurred May 6, 1890, by being crushed by a heavy log that
accidentally rolled over him while he was assisting in building a log fence.
His wife survived him. They had four children.
---------------
Page 782
Surnames: MOSHER, EASTON, WINTERS, LITTLE, HERRICK, TOLES
Gilbert L. MOSHER, son of Benjamin and Peace (EASTON) MOSHER was born in Leon,
Nov. 9, 1844. He was educated in the common schools, supplemented with a short
attendance at Chamberlain Institute. He was justice of the peace in Leon and
Jan. 1, 1877, he accepted the position of deputy sheriff and jailor from
George L. WINTERS, sheriff, and removed to Little Valley, holding the position
three years. In Nov., 1879, he was the nominee of the Republican party
for the office of sheriff and was elected. At the close of his term he was
appointed under sheriff by John LITTLE, Jr., and served another three years.
Since then he has dealt in real estate, built several houses, and carried on
his farm. He has also dealt extensively in horses and cattle. In 1890 he
represented Little Valley as supervisor. He has always been a Republican and
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In the fall of 1877 he
married Adell L. HERRICK, of Gowanda, who died in 188 1 ; she was the mother
of his only son. In the fall of 1884 he married Agnes L. TOLES, of Dansville,
who is the mother of his only daughter.
---------------
Page 782
Surnames: NILES, NOBLES, SALISBURY, GOWING, JOHNSON
Nathan S. NILES, born in Connecticut in 1810, was a blacksmith, and about 1832
came to Franklinville, where he opened a shop. In 1834 he married Huldah J.
NOBLES, who was born in Whitehall, N. Y., in 1818. March 5, 1840, he settled
in New Albion, erected a blacksmith shop, and carried on blacksmithing and
farming. In 1861 he enlisted as the blacksmith for a company in the 9th N. Y.
Cav. and died of pneumonia at Washington, D. C., Feb. 18, 1862. His widow
resides on the homestead in New Albion. Children: Esther (Mrs. Hiram
SALISBURY), deceased; Chauncey T.; Charles P., a soldier in the late war who
died in Virginia near Manassas junction; Maryette (Mrs. Adolphus GOWING),
deceased; Stephen M.; Mortimer A.; William F.; Gaylord,of Salamanca; and
Clarissa E. (Mrs. Richard JOHNSON).
---------------
Page 782
Surnames: OLDAY, HENRY
Ernest OLDAY, a native of Germany, was born in 1842 and came to America in
1867. He settled in Little Valley in 1870, where he commenced his trade of
carriage making. He cast his lot with the Republican party when he first
became a citizen and was commissioned postmaster in Sept., 1889. In Jan.,
1893, this office was promoted to third class and Mr. OLDAY was commissioned
postmaster for four years more, but in July was succeeded by W. W. HENRY.
---------------
Page 782
Surnames: PARKER, SWEETLAND
Will C. PARKER, born in Machias, March 26, 1854, attended the common schools
and the Fredonia Normal School, and at the age of about nineteen he commenced
the tinner's trade, which he followed as clerk and journeyman about four
years. In Jan., 1879, he formed a partnership in. the hardware and grocery
business with J. W. SWEETLAND, which continued about two years, when he bought
of his partner the hardware business which he continues.
---------------
Pages 782 & 783
Surnames: PRATT, DEVEREUX, SMITH, MARKHAM, HUNTLEY, LITTLE, DARROW
Samuel PRATT came to Little Valley from Tinmouth, Vt., in 1838, and spent
nearly a year in clearing fifteen or twenty of the seventy acres his son Lyman
S. had secured for him by contract from Nicholas DEVEREUX. He erected a log
house and frame barn and was joined by his family in Sept., 1839. He died May
15, 1856. Lyman S. PRATT was born in Hubbardton, Vt., Dec. 17, 1813. In 1841
he married Martha SMITH, of Pittsford, came to Little Valley, built a house
and opened a wagon shop in a part of it, and upon the death of his father he
purchased the homestead, carrying on also his carriage making business. In
1864 he sold the homestead and removed to Randolph, where, in 1866, he
purchased and opened a wagon shop and continued about five years. In the
spring of 1877 he again settled in Little Valley, on Fair Oaks street.
Children: Mortimer N., Jerome L., and Alice (Mrs. Stephen MARKHAM). Mortimer
N. PRATT, born Jan. 28, 1845, attended the common schools and graduated at
Randolph Academy and Nov. 14, 1866, married Hattie HUNTLEY. At the age of
seventeen he taught his first term of common school and continued to teach
thirteen consecutive winters. In Feb., 1867, he was elected justice of the
peace and held the office sixteen years. He served three years as assessor
and one year as justice of sessions. Jan. 1, 1883, he was appointed by
Sheriff John LITTLE as his deputy. Jan. 1, 1866, he was re-appointed by Mr.
LITTLE's successor, A. E. DARROW. In Nov., 1888, he was the nominee of his
party and elected to the office of sheriff. He is a staunch Republican,
and has been continuously in office since he was twenty-two years of age.
Children: Robert H., his father's deputy; Arthur J., a plumber and tinsmith
in Little Valley; and Howard. Mr. PRATT owns a farm of 180 acres, which
includes the original homestead of two acres where his father first settled in
1841.
---------------
Page 783
Surnames: RUNDELL, BAKER
Dwight F. RUNDELL, born in Harmony, Chautauqua county, Jan. 22, 1850, received
a common school education, and at the age of eighteen entered his father's
drug store, where he remained until he was twenty-five. In 1875 he bought the
drug store of Dr. D. P. BAKER in Little Valley. Mr. RUNDELL is one of the
trustees of the village and an active citizen.
---------------
Page 783
Surnames: RICH, SYKES
Marion J. RICH was born in New Albion, July 22, 1849. He taught a district
school one winter, and Dec. 30, 1869, married Caroline B. SYKES. The next
year he began mercantile business in the village of Cattaraugus and continued
there until the autumn of 1876. He has been town clerk, was deputy county
clerk to Jan. 1, 1877, until Jan. 1, 1880, and county clerk one term.
---------------
Page 783
Surnames: ROBERTS, CLARK, WILSON, HOBART, SMITH
Roswell ROBERTS was born in Bristol, Conn., April 5, 1797. He married Mercy
CLARK, a school teacher, who was born in Northampton Mass., June 9, 1797.
About 1824 or 1825 he came to Napoli, where he cleared a small plat, erected a
log cabin, and moved his family into it. He eventually gave the homestead to
his, son, Albert W. ROBERTS, and died Sept. 25, 1879. Mrs. ROBERTS died Aug.
23, 1869. Children: Adaline (Mrs. Artemas WILSON), born April 15, 1822,
died in Napoli; Hannah (Mrs. HOBART), born April 20, 1826; Albert W.; and
Abner L., of Derrick City, Pa., who was born Feb. 4, 1833. Albert W. ROBERTS
was born on the homestead May 31, 1828. He married Melissa E. SMITH, Oct. 14,
1850, who was born in Napoli, Aug. 20, 1830. He was a farmer till 1885, when
he removed to Little Valley.
---------------
Page 783
Surnames: SIGMAN, RUSSELL
Martin P. SIGMAN, born in Germany in 1844, emigrated to America with his
parents about 1847. His father, Martin SIGMAN, became a citizen soon after he
settled in New Albion. He had served his native country seven years as a
soldier. His oldest son enlisted at the age of seventeen, on Oct. 14, 1861,
in Co. C, 64th N. Y. Vols., and was discharged in Oct., 1864. Mr. SIGMAN was
never in the hospital and was appointed corporal in 1863 and promoted
orderly-sergeant. Feb. 18, 1872, he married Armenia RUSSELL and has resided
in Little Valley since June, 1888.
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Pages 783 & 784
Surnames: SMITH, BRICE, McAVOY, BURGER
Wilbur J. SMITH, son of William D. SMITH, was born in Leon, July 4, 1842. His
father was a farmer and was born in Monroe county. He married Phebe L. BRICE
and as early as 1835 settled on a farm in Leon. He first moved with his wife
into a log cabin and struggled to make a home of his 100 acres, which he had
paid for before he saw it at $1 per acre. He died in 1858. His oldest son,
Willard D. SMITH, enlisted in the 37th N. Y. Vols. in April, 1861, and was
discharged for disability in August following. He re- enlisted in October of
the same year in the 100th N. Y. Vols., served as a noncommissioned officer
until Feb., 1864, and re-enlisted as a veteran for three years. May 16, 1864,
at the battle of Drury's Bluff, he was wounded in the ankle, was captured, was
confined in Andersonville prison till Jan., 1865, and died at Florence, S. C.,
Jan. 30, 1865. Wilbur J. enlisted in Sept., 1861, in the 100th N. Y. Vols.,
being mustered into service with his regiment in Dec., 1861. Nearly all the
time he was a non-commissioned officer and served as first sergeant about two
years. In 1863 he was commissioned second lieutenant, but was not mustered.
In Nov., 1863, he was granted a furlough of sixty days for good conduct on the
battlefield and especially for bravery at the siege of Fort Wagner, July 18,
1863. Aug. 21, 1863, at a charge on rifle pits at Forts Wagner and Gregg, he
received a wound in his right thigh and still carries the two small bullets he
received at that time. In Sept., 1864, he was commissioned adjutant of his
regiment, but was not mustered in on account of wounds which he received Oct.
27, 1864, while commanding his company on the old battlefield of Fair Oaks.
He was carried from this field to the Fly Hospital, thence to Hampton
Hospital, Va., and finally mustered out of service in Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 30,
1865. He returned home and was so disabled that he performed no business for
three years. He then engaged in the insurance business in company with F. B.
McAVOY, of Otto. In Feb., 1869, he married Lizzie BURGER and lived in Otto
until 1873, when he was appointed deputy sheriff and settled in Little Valley,
where he still resides. He was deputy sheriff four years, when he again
conducted an insurance business four or five years and engaged in farming and
in breeding and dealing in blooded horses. Mr. SMITH has been president of
the village and has held nearly all the offices of the corporation. Children:
Clayton B., born in 1871; Cora N., born in 1873; and Winnifred E., born in
1876.
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Page 784
Surnames: STRATTON, WHEELER, COOK, HILL, BROWN, FOSTER, FOY
James STRATTON, born in Athol, Mass., in 1786, married Betsey, daughter of
Joshua WHEELER, and settled in Erie county in 1812, making the journey with
two yoke of oxen in thirty days. In 1819 they removed to Little Valley Center
and settled on the farm now owned by Samuel COOK. Mr. STRATTON died in Aug.,
1874, and Mrs. STRATTON on Jan. 5, 1879. Mr. STRATTON was industrious and
enterprising and held several of the town offices. Children: Leander, who
settled first near his father and removed about 1874 to Tennessee; Lorenzo,
who married Sophia J. HILL, was a merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio, a farmer on
the homestead, domesticated a herd of elk, in 1868 bought an extensive
plantation in Tennessee, removed thither, built a saw-mill and grist-mill and
a fine residence, and died there in June, 1884; Luana, who married Nathan C.
BROWN, a farmer in Little Valley Center, and moved in 1868 to Tennessee;
Achsah, a teacher who died at the age of twenty years; Louisa, who married
Chester FOSTER, a farmer, and removed to Tennessee in 1875 ; and Zebulon L.,
who married Martha FOY, settled and lived on the homestead eleven years, and
removed to Whig street in April, 1865, where Mr. STRATTON died Aug. 16, 1889.
He was a good scholar and a great reader. Children: Edward A., who has
taught twenty terms of school and is now a teacher in Randolph, and Albert L.,
a teacher and farmer.
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Pages 784 & 785
Surnames: SWEETLAND, HOUGHTON, PALMER
The SWEETLAND family in America trace their ancestry to the Pilgrim fathers
who came from England and settled in Massachusetts two or three years after
the landing of the Mayflower. Asa SWEETLAND, Sr., a native of Vermont, was
born in 1784, married Tabitha HOUGHTON, who was born Sept. 2, 1788, and came
with four children to Elba, Genesee county, in 1816. In 1828 he removed to
Little Valley and as early as 1831 all his children - three sons and a
daughter - were residing near him. Mr. SWEETLAND was a prominent member of
the M. E. church and served as class-leader until he resigned on account of
old age. He died March 8, 1867. His son, Rev. Lewis SWEETLAND, was born in
Vermont, Jan. 2, 1810. He settled in the west part of the town, his homestead
being owned by his heirs. For several years he was a local preacher of the M.
E. church. Later, and for many years, he was an itinerant preacher of the
Methodist Protestant church and died on his charge Sept. 17, 1883. He married
Lucilla PALMER; of his ten children only Emory, Sophia and Maria (twins), and
Orlando are living.
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Page 785
Surnames: SWEETLAND, FISHER, HART
Asa SWEETLAND, Jr., born in Vermont, June 6, 1812, married Matilda FISHER,
March 8, 1832, Whose father, William FISHER, was a pioneer of Little Valley.
They at once settled on the farm where he now lives. At that time there was
one habitation of the kind in sight and another on the site of the present
Rock City Hotel. Besides these three log cabins the entire territory of
the village was a forest. Both he and his wife were prominent members of the
M. E. church. He officiated as class-leader about twenty- five years and has
been a member over sixty-six years. Mrs. SWEETLAND died Dec. 18, 1887, leaving
one surviving daughter, Altheda (Mrs. Horace HART). Mrs. HART was born,
raised, married, and commenced housekeeping on the homestead, and there her
only child, Henry M., was born.
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Page 785
Surnames: SWEETLAND, SHORT, PARKER
John Wesley SWEETLAND, son of Rev. LEWIS, was born April 9, 1831. He received
a good English education and taught common schools in winter many years. Jan.
4, 18547 he married Malvina F. SHORT and about two years after he bought forty
acres of the homestead. In Sept., 1862, he enlisted in Co. B, 154th N. Y.
Vols., and at Arlington Heights was attacked with fever and sent to the
hospital. On partial recovery he was retained as a helper in the hospital,
and remained in this position until discharged at the close of the war. He
then resumed farming. In 1876 he removed to the village and had a position in
the county clerk's office. In the spring of 1879 he formed a partnership with
W. C. PARKER as SWEETLAND &. PARKER in the hardware trade. A year or two
later Mr. SWEETLAND bought Mr. PARKER out and continued the business alone
until the spring of 1884, when his son, S. L. SWEETLAND, became his partner as
J. W. SWEETLAND & Son. He died Sept. 7, 1884.
---------------
Page 785
Surnames: SWEETLAND, BAILEY
S. L. SWEETLAND was born in Batavia, Genesee county, Sept. 8, 1855. When two
years old his parents removed to Little Valley, where he has since resided.
His education was obtained in the common schools with two years in Chamberlain
Institute. He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Cattaraugus
Republican, where he was employed five years, and on the Bradford Era one
year. His father's health failed in 1833 and Lewis went home and conducted
his father's hardware and grocery store. Upon the death of his father in 1884
his mother became his partner under the firm name of S. L. SWEETLAND & Co. He
was clerk of Little Valley from 1884 to 1889. Jan. 4, 1878, he married Ella
R. BAILEY; children: Lee Wesley and S. L., Jr.
---------------
Pages 785 & 786
Surnames: SWEETLAND, HOLDRIDGE
Emory SWEETLAND, son of Rev. LEWIS, was born Oct. 14, 1835, married Mary J.,
daughter of Zina HOLDRIDGE, and settled on a farm on the Bucktooth road. He
enlisted in Co. B, 154th N. Y. Vols., and served the last three years of the
war, being discharged at Washington in 1865. The last year of his service he
was chief steward of Second Division, Twentieth Army Hospital.
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Page 786
Surnames: TRAVIS, BUFFINGTON, TEN EYCK, WILSON
Capt. William TRAVIS, born in Saratoga county, Dec. 27, 1796, married Sophia
BUFFINGTON, of Saratoga, who was born in Kenebec county, Maine, Oct. 15, 1803.
They removed to Marcellus, N. Y., and in 1826 came to New Albion, where he was
a farmer and carpenter. He died Oct. 19, 1851. He was justice of the peace
several terms, and was noted as a successful pettifogger in justice's court.
In early life he was identified with the militia and was promoted to captain.
Of their four children the oldest, John TRAVIS, was born June 10, 1825, was
raised in New Albion, and Dec. 4, 1843, married Anna M., daughter of Barrant
TEN EYCK a blacksmith and an early settler. In 1856 he permanently settled in
the village of Little Valley, where he has since resided except about four
years spent in Crawford county, Pa. While in Little Valley he has been a
farmer. They had twelve children, of whom seven are living. Their oldest
child, Nancy J. (Mrs. William H. WILSON), died in Alabama, June 26, 1887. The
other four died in infancy.
---------------
Page 786
Surname: VICKERY
Edgar R. VICKERY, son of Arvin R. VICKERY, was born in Lysander, N. Y., Jan.
14, 1833. His father settled on a farm in New Albion in 1852, where he
remained until April, 1883, when he removed to Little Valley, where his son
and daughter Elizabeth and aged widow now reside. He died April 2, 1890.
Edgar R. VICKERY, on Sept. 3, 1861, enlisted in Co. I, 49th N. Y. Vols.,
and was mustered into service Sept. 6th. He participated in the battles of
Lewinsville, Va., Oct. 13, 1861; Watt's Creek, April 1 1862; Young's Mills,
April 4, 1862; siege of Yorktown from April 5 to May 4, 1862; Lee's Mills,
April 5 and 16; Williamsburg, May 5, 1862; Mechanicsville, May 26, 1892;
Golding's Farm, June 5, 1862; New Bridge, June 18, 1862; Seven Days' Battle
commencing June 25, 1862; Garnett's Farm, June 27, and Garnett's and Golding's
Farm, June 28, 1862; Savage Station, June 29, 1862; White Oak Swamp Bridge,
June 30, 1862; Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; and Harrison's Landing, July 3,
1862, where a bullet passed through his canteen and where he received a
bullet-wound in his right knee. He was sent to judiciary Square Hospital
in Washington, D. C., July 7, 1862, was transferred to Newton University
Hospital, Baltimore, Aug. 28, and was discharged Feb. 19, 1863, upon a
surgeon's certificate of disability. He returned to his home on Feb. 28th.
He is now a farmer in the village of Little Valley.
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Page 786
Surname: WATSON
James H. WATSON, born in Butler county, Pa., June 8, 1841, was raised a
farmer, was educated in the common schools, and April 24, 1861, enlisted in
Co. K, 8th Pa. Vols., being discharged July 29, 1861. The next morning he
enlisted in Co. E, 62d Pa. Vols., and was. dated back on the muster roll July
4, 1861. He was discharged upon a surgeon's certificate of disability April
20, 1863. He again enlisted, but was rejected.
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Pages 786 & 787
Surnames: WHEATON, CHASE, GIBSON, BRYANT, CARVER, BAILEY, FULLER
Gaius WHEATON was born in Worcester, Mass., in 1789 or 1790. About 1820 he
came to Little Valley Center, locating on the farm owned by his son Norman,
the oldest person living who was born in the limits of the present town. He
married Lefa CHASE, daughter of the pioneer, David CHASE, and brought his
bride to his little frame house, and both remained on the place to the
close of their lives. She died in early life and was the mother of all his
children. He was afterward twice married. Mr. WHEATON was the first
blacksmith in town and followed his trade several years. He held town
offices, was an active Free Mason, and a master of the lodge. He died in
1863. Children: Hiram, who married, first, Mary GIBSON, and second, Olive
BRYANT (the mother of two daughters), was a farmer first in Allegany and last
in Ellicottville, and was proprietor of a grist-mill in Allegany, where he
died; Norman, born in 1823, resides on the homestead, has always been a
farmer, was raised a Democrat, but has been a Republican since the
organization of the party, has been supervisor, justice of the peace, and
assessor, married Harriet CARVER, and has children Viola (Mrs. Frank BAILEY)
and Stanley N.; and Gaius, Jr. Stanley N. WHEATON, born on the WHEATON
homestead Dec. 1, 1857, received a good academic education, and at the age of
sixteen commenced teaching district schools and taught eight terms. At the
same time he read law and at the age of twenty-one was appointed deputy county
clerk, serving in that capacity about seven years and being clerk of the
courts the last four years. In 1881 he was admitted to the bar and in the
fall of 1887 was elected school commissioner of the Second District of
Cattaraugus county, and was re-elected to the office. In 1880 Mr. WHEATON
married Nettie, daughter of Cyrus A. FULLER and granddaughter of Cyrus W.
FULLER.
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Page 787
Surnames: WHEATON, KELLY, GREEN, FULLER, BARNES, HALEY
Gaius WHEATON, Jr., was born Aug. 17, 1826, and is a farmer in Allegany. He
married Sarah KELLY, of Little Valley, July 9, 1848, who was born Nov. 10,
1829, and died in Allegany, March 4, 1878. Sept. 6, 1882, he married, second,
Mrs. Malinda GREEN, who was born April 2, 1844. His children by his first wife
were Miranda, born June 11, 1851, married Benjamin C. FULLER (deceased), Sept.
23, 1872; Florence, born May 15, 1856, married J. E. BARNES, Jan. 16, 1878;
Jessie H., born March 1, 1863, married J. H. HALEY, Oct. 6, 1882; and Allen
G., born Dec. 8, 1865.